The City of Midland's Traffic Operations Division has released its 2016 Traffic Crash Report, which contains data regarding traffic crashes that occurred on public roadways last calendar year. The report also includes traffic counts from throughout the year at various intersections and locations across the city.
Traffic officials saw the following trends in 2016:
· The total number of reported crashes in the City of Midland decreased 10 percent from 3,602 in 2015 to 3,233 in 2016. This is after officials also saw a 10 percent decrease in 2015 from an all-time peak of 4,013 crashes in 2014.
· There were 11 fatalities in 2016 compared to 10 in 2015. This is down dramatically from the peak in 2014, when 24 fatalities occurred in Midland.
· The intersection with the highest number of crashes for 2016 was Midland Drive at Wadley Avenue. This was followed by the Highway 191 North service road at the Loop 250 West service road, and then Midkiff Road at Wadley Avenue. These same intersections are also the three intersections with the highest traffic crash rates when volume is taken into account.
· The total number of crashes within the City was similar to other comparable size cities in Texas, with approximately 24.3 crashes per year per 1,000 residents.
City
| Population
(2015 Estimate)
| Crashes
| Fatalities
| Crashes per 1,000 Pop.
| Fatalities per 1,000 Pop.
|
City of Carrollton
| 133,168
| 3,117
| 4
| 23.41
| 0.0300
|
City of Midland
| 132,950
| 3,233
| 11
| 24.32
| 0.0827
|
City of Waco
| 132,356
| 3,947
| 12
| 29.82
| 0.0907
|
City of Denton
| 131,044
| 3,808
| 23
| 29.06
| 0.1755
|
City of Abilene
| 121,721
| 3,343
| 12
| 27.46
| 0.0986
|
· Overall traffic volume counts taken in 2016 were down about 5.5 percent compared to 2015. This follows an upward trend of increasing traffic volumes in previous years.
Traffic volumes provided in the annual crash report usually represent data from one day out of the entire year. The variations in daily traffic patterns make it difficult to determine trends at any one location based on these figures.
City officials will continue to study and monitor all intersections listed in the 2016 Annual Traffic Crash Report and implement any changes or additions to existing traffic control devices or intersections as necessary.
The City of Midland's traffic crash reports can be found at www.midlandtexas.gov/crashreports.
Note: The City has changed the way that an “intersection crash” is evaluated by extending the distance from the intersection within which a crash is counted. Therefore, the number of crashes at an intersection should not be compared using numbers from reports issued in past years. All of the historical data presented within this year's report has been re-calculated to reflect this change.
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Media Contact: Traffic Engineer Mike Pacelli